Senior Trumps at banquet

Senior Melanie Trump, one of four seniors nominated for Outstanding Senior Leader, won a $500 scholarship at the Outstanding Senior Leader Banquet held on March 16 at the Signature Grand in Davie.

“I was really happy (to win),” Trump said. “I didn’t know who was going to win because all the people that were nominated are well-deserving of recognition.”

Teachers, coaches and advisors nominated students they thought to be outstanding in clubs and sports, and the candidates were given applications by Mr. Cledet, teacher and chair of the magnet department, on Feb. 3. All of the applications were reviewed by a committee of adults in the school, who then chose four of the candidates to become Outstanding Senior Leader nominees.

Trump was nominated by Ms. Odio, music director, for her dedication and leadership in band. Trump has been participating in band at school ever since freshmen year, and she has been the drum major during her junior and senior years.

“I nominated Melanie Trump because she is one of the best drum majors I have ever had,” Ms. Odio said. “She is a musician of the highest caliber and a passionate and dedicated individual. She sets a phenomenal example as a leader for the others and they are better because of their presence.”

Each school in the county nominated four seniors, and at the banquet on March 16, one of the nominees from every school won a $500 scholarship for Most Improved/Outstanding. One senior out of all the schools was awarded a $1,000 scholarship as a grand prize.

A committee at the banquet decided who the winners of the scholarships would be.

Trump was the only senior out of our school’s nominees that won a scholarship award.

Mr. Cledet believes she won because she is a “natural leader” that “you just want to follow” and because she is “very giving of her time” and “her talent.”

The purpose of the award is to “recognize seniors that have gone above and beyond,” according to Mr. Cledet.

The scholarship money is funded by parents and students who buy graduation products, not including cap and gown orders, from Herff Jones. Because the prize money is funded by the previous year’s sales, the scholarship amount varies every year.

The other three nominees for the Outstanding Senior Leader were Remy Bassett-Audain, Genae Brown and Jean Marin.

“All of the students from Pompano Beach High School are very hard-working individuals who deserve not only recognition by coaches, teachers and advisors, but by their peers as well,” Trump said. “There were a lot of other candidates who deserved to be nominated too.”